In September 2014, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was signed into law, with an effective date of January 1, 2015, and codified in the California Water Code, Section 10720 et seq. The legislative intent of SGMA is to, among other goals, provide for sustainable management of alluvial groundwater basins and subbasins defined by the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR), to enhance local management of groundwater, to establish minimum standards for sustainable groundwater management, and to provide specified local agencies with the Agency and the technical and financial assistance necessary to sustainably manage groundwater. To comply with and satisfy the requirements of SGMA, the following activities are mandated:
Formation of a Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) by June 30,
2017.
Development of a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) by January 31,
2022.
Implementation of the GSP to achieve quantifiable objectives and
sustainability within 20 years (by 2042).
Annual reporting of groundwater conditions in the basin to the CDWR.
Periodic (every five years) evaluation of the GSP implementation by the
GSA.
Specifically, the GSP provides the geographical and managerial context of the Bear Valley Basin, summarizes the groundwater basin setting (including groundwater conditions, water budget, and management areas), describes the criteria used to measure and demonstrate sustainability, reviews the existing groundwater monitoring and management programs, and defines how those actions will be incorporated into the Bear Valley Basin GSP to achieve and maintain sustainability in the future.
